Farewell to ‘not proven’, the verdict Madeleine made the most of - Susan Morrison
Hello 2026, and farewell ‘Not proven’, that unique Scottish verdict that baffled the rest of the world and it seems, even our own legal eagles, who didn’t exactly hit the barricades to keep it.
As a verdict, it left a lot to be desired. Scottish law said, mebbe’s naw or mebbe’s aye. You’re probably not guilty. But you’re probably not innocent. Essentially Lady Justice was side-eyeing you from under her blindfold.
In 1857, the verdict hit international headlines, when a pretty and highly respectable young Glasgow woman, Madeleine Smith, was accused of murdering her lover, Pierre Emile L'Angelier.
She had the motive. He wouldn't give back those outrageous sexily explicit letters, read out in court for all to hear. My dear, Scottish society ladies were scandalised. Smelling salts sales must have rocketed.
She had the means. She’d bought enough arsenic to fell a platoon. She had the opportunity. There were secret late night assignations.
On nippy nights, Maddie plied him with cups of cocoa. Did she lace those moonlit mugs with poison? Was this well-brought up young lady capable of cold-blooded murder?
The jury could not decide. She was found Not Proven. She walked free, but notorious. She promptly vanished.
The press pack hunted Maddie, but she’d covered her tracks well. False sightings were made all over the world. Later that year, the Paisley Herald reported that New Yorkers were thrilled to discover the infamous Madeleine Smith was Big Apple bound. A welcoming reception aboard her incoming ship was planned.
However, “error had arisen …The Committee of Reception…were shown to the cabin of the "fat, fair, and forty" Mathilde Schmidt. Their chairman and spokesman had hardly commenced his prepared speech, when he was interrupted by something which sounded very much like "Nix furstang—nix spreich Anglish!"
The committee were thunderstruck. They knew well that the dialect was not Scottish, and concluding that there must be some mistake, gathered up their hats and left in disgust”.
Maddie really did get to New York, much later. She died there in 1928, taking the truth of L'Angelier’s death with her. Did she do it?
Well, the case against her was never proven.